THE SHILLUK’S CONCEPTION OF GOD 
219 
Shilluk Idea of Creation 
“God has a prominent place in the traditional lore 
of the Shilluks. They recognise Him as Creator. God, 
they believe, first created two great level spaces, one 
above, one below. These levels are the heavens and the 
earth. He then created the plants and the trees. The 
first animal created was the buffalo, and this was God’s 
favourite. Later, Man was made. God spake to the 
buffalo, saying, 1 Come to-morrow and I will give you 
a spear.’ Man overheard, and so when the time came, 
Man went to God and as it was dark, God could not see. 
Man approached on his hands and knees, bellowing like a 
buffalo. God said, ‘ Who is this ? ’ and Man answered, 
‘I am the one with the horns turned backwards.’ God, 
being deceived, gave the spear to Man ; and later, when 
the buffalo came bellowing, God said ‘Who is this?’ 
The buffalo answered, ‘ I am the one with the horns 
turned backwards.’ God said, ‘Did you not receive 
your spear a little while ago?’ The buffalo replied, 
‘No,’ and God said, ‘Who got it?’ The buffalo 
answered, ‘ Man. 1 God said, ‘ Man, then, has got the 
spear.’ God, however, gave the buffalo his horns and 
said, ‘ When you see a Man thrust your horn into him.’ 
“The spear did not greatly improve Man’s condition 
as it had no handle and could not be thrown. ‘ Man’s 
friend, the vulture, perceived this and said to Man, ‘ Why 
Is your spear without a handle?’ Man had to admit 
he knew not how to make a handle. The vulture there¬ 
upon made it and fixed it in its place, saying, ‘ I ask 
no reward for this, but when you hunt I will watch, and 
when you kill something I will come to feed on the blood 
that is shed on the ground. Man then made war on 
the buffalo, and sometimes Man was killed and sometimes 
the buffalo was killed. When the buffalo was killed 
the vulture got his blood; but when Man was killed he 
was buried by his friends. 
